A major reason for rejection of docks accessing navigable waters is environmental impacts due to the shading of the underlying marine or aquatic submerged aquatic vegetation. The rotary, retractable dock is a design which allows a dock to have “temporary” and partial shading effect during the growing season. The dock is made to be “coiled” and “retracted” in a housing on adjacent uplands so that the dock is not shading vegetation or sea life for any extended period of time. This allows vegetation, which is photosensitive, to obtain the light it needs to grow and thrive. Thus, the rotary, automated, retractable dock allows a waterfront property owner, wishing to access the water, an option to do so without putting a significant stress on the surrounding environment through shading of the submerged aquatic vegetation. The land-based housing provides a protected, compact and discrete/attractive storage for the decking material when not in use.
Prior art made known to the inventor varies from the current invention as follows:
Sloan (U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,543) provides a floating, modular lock system. It is not rotary in storage configuration, is not retractable automatically to the land-ward side, is not on side wheels or rollers and is not provided with a protective housing.
Boundrias (U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,629) provides a concrete floating dock system which can be sunk or raised as needed. It is not automatically retracted, is not stored to the land-ward side, is not on side wheels or rollers and is not provided with a protective housing.Kay (U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,597) provides an elevated dock system which can be assembled and disassembled only by hand. The decking lacks wheels or rollers. It is not automatically extended or retracted, is not stored to the land-ward side and is not provided with a protective housing.Heintz (U.S. Pat. No. 6,746,181-B1) provides an elevated dock system which consists of a series of flat panels on legs driven in and out of the water by an elective motor on a geared assembly. This art varies from the instant application in that it lacks, (1) side guide rails/flanges, (2) a pulley/cable assembly for extension and retraction, (3) a rotary configuration, (4) a land-ward housing, (5) a series of side wheels attached to the decking material itself and (6) a remote control device. Further, it is not fully automated as is requires hand placement of joint decking pins or bolts for the decking and hand extension of “legs” to the lake on sea floor. The retraction process will require the same hand work.